 
The original and best known line-up of the Who
consists of Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John
Entwistle, and Keith Moon. The conception of the Who
began in 1959 when Townshend and Entwistle formed
'The Confederates' while in school with Townshend on
the banjo and Entwistle on the French horn. A few
years later while Townshend attended Ealing Art
School, Entwistle joined Daltrey's group 'The
Detours' as the bassist. By 1962, Townshend joins
'The Detours' on guitar and Daltrey took over as the
lead vocalist a year later when Daltrey kicked out
the original lead singer, Colin Dawson.
'The Detours' changed the name of the group to 'The
Who'.
Keith Moon joined the Who as their drummer.
The group's publicist changed their name to 'The High
Numbers'.
'The High Numbers' released the single "I'm The
Face / Zoot Suit."
Townshend accidentally smashed his guitar at a
performance which would later become an intentional
trademark act of his performances. Townshend's
actions were soon followed by Moon trashing his drums
in a performance.
'The High Numbers' return to the name - 'The Who'.
The single "I Can't Explain' is released and
hits the Top 10 in the UK.
The single "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere' is
released and hits the Top 10 in the UK.
While on tour, Daltrey was fired from the group by
the other 3 members and then returned to the group.
The Who released the single "My Generation"
which became their highest charting single in the UK
(along with the later release "I'm A Boy"),
peaking at # 2.
The Who released My
Generation
in the UK and hit the Top 5 on the UK LP charts.
The Who released the single "Substitute."
The Who released The
Who Sings My Generation (originally released as My
Generation
in the UK) (available at iTunes). The LP was later hailed as one of the
best LPs of all time even the band thought the LP was
thrown together too quickly after their songs started
getting airplay. The LP contained the hits "My
Generation," "A Legal Matter,"
"The Kids Are Alright," and "La-La-La
Lies."
The Who toured the UK.
The Who toured Ireland and Scandinavia.
The Who released the single "I'm A Boy" and
made it to # 2 again on the UK charts.
The Who released A
Quick One / Happy Jack (released as A
Quick One
in the UK and Happy
Jack in
the US) (available at iTunes). The LP hit the Top 5 on the UK LP
charts and contained the hit "Happy Jack."
The Who made their debut in the US at several
performances at the Brooklyn Fox Theatre.
The Who hit the US singles charts for the first time
with "Happy Jack."
The Who toured the US.
After a bad drug experience, Townshend swore off
drugs and began studying the teachings of Meher Baba
which would impact his artistic creativity for years
to come.
The Who released the single "I Can See For
Miles" which hit the Top 10 in the UK and became
the group's first Top 10 song in the US.
The Who released the concept LP The
Who Sell Out (available at iTunes) and marked the first Who LP that
didn't feature Daltrey as the sole lead singer on all
the tracks.
The Who began their first
headlining tour of the US.
The Who released the compilation album Magic
Bus: The Who On Tour (release in the UK the following month)
with the single "Magic Bus."
The single "Pinball Wizard" was released
and hit the Top 5 in the UK and the US.
The Who released Tommy (available at iTunes and Amazon-mp3). The double LP was the band's
'rock opera' and later incorporated into a film. The
LP was banned by the BBC and by some US radio
stations due to its subject matter. The LP contained
the singles "Pinball Wizard," "I'm
Free," and "See Me, Feel Me" and
became the Who's first Top 10 LP in the US.
The Who began touring to much more financial success.
The Who performed at Woodstock in Bethel, NY.
Tommy was certified gold.
The Who released the single "The Seeker"
and hit the Top 20 in the UK.
The Who released their first live LP Live
At Leeds
(available at iTunes). The original version of the LP only
contained 6 tracks and the hit "Summertime
Blues."
The Who performed 2 shows of 'Tommy' at the New York
Metropolitan Opera House followed by a US tour that
expanded its venues to sports arenas.
Live
At Leeds
was certified gold.
The Who began touring Europe.
Townshend reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown
resulting from feeling overworked and artistically
frustrated.
The single "Won't Get Fooled Again" is
released and hits the Top 10 in the US and UK.
The Who released Who's
Next
(released in the UK the following month) (available
at iTunes). The LP topped the UK LP charts and
contained the hits "Behind Blues Eyes,"
"Won't Get Fooled Again," and "Baba
O'Riley."
The Who began their biggest US tour (returning to the
US in November after touring the UK).
Who's
Next was
certified gold.
The Who released the compilation LP Meaty
Beaty Big And Bouncy.
Meaty
Beaty Big And Bouncy was certified gold.
The single "The Relay" was released and hit
the Top 40 in the US and UK.
The single "5:15" was released and hit the
Top 20 in the UK.
The Who released the 2 LP set Quadrophenia - the band's second 'rock
opera.' (available at iTunes)
Quadrophenia was certified gold.
While performing in San Francisco, Moon collapsed on
stage.
The Who had to spend 7 hours in jail after trashing a
hotel suite in Montreal.
Townshend reportedly suffered another nervous
breakdown as filming for the movie Tommy began.
The Who released Odds
& Sods
(available at iTunes). The LP was put together by Entwistle
and mostly contained tracks that had been bootlegged
often by fans.
Odds
& Sods
was certified gold.
The film Tommy made its premiere in New York.
The Tommy
soundtrack was
released.
The Who released Who
By The Numbers (available at iTunes). The LP hit the Top 10 in the US and
the UK, and contained the hit "Squeeze
Box."
The Who released the single "Squeeze Box"
and hit the Top 10 in the US and UK.
Who
By The Numbers was certified gold.
The Who toured the US and Europe during the
beginning of the year.
While opening the US tour in Boston, Moon collapsed
again.
The Who made it into the Guiness Book Of Records
as the 'world's loudest pop group'.'
The Who performed at the Kilburn State Theatre - the
performance would be used for the film The
Kids Are Alright.
The Who performed in front of an invited audience for
the film The
Kids Are Alright. It would be the last performance by
the Who with Keith Moon.
The single "Who Are You" was released and
hit the Top 20 in the US and UK.
The Who released their 8th studio LP Who
Are You
(available at iTunes). The LP became their highest charting
LP - peaking at #2 on the Billboard LP charts. The LP
also marked the last LP with Keith Moon involved. The
LP's title track became a Top 20 hit in the US and
the UK.
Who
Are You
was certified gold.
On September 7th, Keith Moon was found dead due to an
accidental overdose of a prescribed drug (Heminevrin)
to help control his alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Who
Are You
was certified platinum.
Kenney Jones, formerly of Faces, was
announced as the Who's new drummer.
 The
Kids Are Alright soundtrack and film were released. The
LP went Top 10 in the US. The soundtrack for the
accompanying rock film contained mostly live
performances in various settings (available at iTunes).
The
Kids Are Alright soundtrack was certified gold.
The Quadrophenia
soundtrack and
film were released with tracks by The Who (including
a few by them credited as 'The High Numbers') and
other artists.
The
Kids Are Alright soundtrack was certified platinum.
The Who spend much of the remaining year
touring the US and UK.
Tragedy struck while touring in Ohio when 11 concert
fans were crushed to death at Riverfront Coliseum
before the group's performance. The tragedy resulted
in many concert venues stopping the policy of general
admission.
The Who spend much of the year touring the
US, Europe, and Canada.
 # 88
Singles Artist of the Year
The Who released Face
Dances -
the first new LP with new drummer Kenney Jones
(available at iTunes). The LP contained the hits "You
Better You Bet," "Don't Let Go The
Coat," "Another Tricky Day,"
"Daily Records," "Did You Steal My
Money," "How Can You Do It Alone," and
"You."
The Who hit the Top 40 with "You Better You Bet."
 Face
Dances
was certified gold.
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